Unite members protest for free movement

Dozens of activists in the Unite union — from a wide range of its industrial sectors — have protested against general secretary Len McCluskey’s reported comments against immigration.

According to the Guardian (5 December), McCluskey warned Labour leaders against their hesitant moves towards favouring a new public vote which could stop Brexit. He “spoke about tackling people’s concerns about immigration and the exploitation of immigrant labour. He said there would be a sense of betrayal among the members if we went for a second referendum”.

The activists respond: “The idea that free movement depresses wages or drives unemployment is a right-wing lie, disproven by the evidence and designed to set workers against one another. . . We expect our General Secretary to reject such harmful rhetoric and stand up for the rank and file members, many of whom are those same migrants!

“Clamping down on our freedom to move, live and work across borders will not solve any of the problems we face. . . In truth, by leaving migrant workers precarious and at the mercy of unscrupulous bosses. . . anti-migrant policies. . . threaten to undermine all of us”.